


Forward

by allin_ev_itable



Category: Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Honestly I was gonna write more but I got lazy, M/M, lil angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 17:33:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15801321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allin_ev_itable/pseuds/allin_ev_itable
Summary: Jimmy can't move on. But he can more forward.





	Forward

**Author's Note:**

> This is an apology for hurting Jimmy's feelings so much

The vacant sight of the now empty apartment felt bittersweet to Jimmy as he stood in the living room, scanning the area. On one hand, he was glad to finally get out of the cramped space that he had spent the last year of his life in, but on the other, so many memories had been made there in that small amount of time. He and Julia having long conversations on the couch while guzzling wine and joking around, the impromptu jam sessions with everyone in the band when they'd come over just to hang out, and-

 “You ready to go?” Jimmy pulled out of his reflection to look back at Johnny, standing in the doorway and  _ there he was. _ He smiled fondly at the drummer before turning his attention back to the empty living room.

 “We had our first kiss here, y’know,” Jimmy said, a slight hope in the back of his mind that Johnny would remember. He wouldn't be upset if he didn't, though. He never got upset over things like that. The war robbed Johnny of his memory the same way it had robbed Jimmy of- no. He wasn't thinking like that anymore. He couldn't live in the constant hurt and anger of the things the war had done to him. Not anymore.

 Johnny let a second or two pass before a smile spread across his face, stepping out of the doorway and standing next to the law student. “Your glasses fogged up.” He draped an arm over Jimmy's shoulders, joining him in looking over the room. Jimmy always felt ridiculously happy when the man remembered something, especially things about the two of them. He knew that meant Johnny went above and beyond desperately trying to keep hold of that memory. That’s exactly why he was also very patient when the drummer asked insignificant questions, like what the weather had been like or the color of his bow tie. Jimmy knew it was just him trying to latch on to any and every detail he could to keep the memory intact. 

 “Yes, they did. And you pulled them off my face which only made me more blind.”

 “The face you make when you don’t have your glasses on is priceless,” Johnny chuckled, pressing a kiss to Jimmy’s temple before pulling away to look around the apartment and check for anything they had missed.

 The sound of distant bickering made Jimmy sigh, walking out the front door to see Nick and Wayne trying to shove boxes in the former’s car. “What are you two fighting about now?” he asked, catching the attention of Addy as she ran up to him from where she’d been laying in the grass and presumably staying neutral in the argument.

 “We’re trying to minimize the trips we take but he’s trying to just throw the boxes in the backseat and hope for the best!” Wayne complained, earning an eye roll from the trumpet player.

 “We still have room in Johnny’s car and there’s only a few boxes left. Don’t be so overdramatic that they’re not fitting absolutely perfect. Besides, we gotta make room for Addy to sit somewhere, unless you want a sixty-five pound dog in your lap for half an hour.”

 Jimmy typically offered his snappy, no nonsense declaration of how their bickering was stupid and everything was fine, but right now all he could do was shake his head and laugh. Everything was just going so well, for the first time in a while he wasn’t thinking about the things that usually plagued his mind and kept him up during late nights and drove him mad during long days. He wasn’t thinking about anything. His head was blissfully empty. It was a huge relief. A thankful breath of air from the previous suffocation of his memories. Of  _ him.  _

 “Alright, I think that’s everything. Jimmy, you are officially moved out,” Johnny declared triumphantly, shutting the front door behind him as Addy walked away from Jimmy and back towards her owners now that the conflict had ended. 

 “Perfect. Julia and Donny are at the new house making sure our furniture arrives and Davy’s probably breaking in the new glassware with whiskey, so if we leave now everything should be delivered by the time we get there.”

 After getting everyone loaded into their individual cars, the men made their journey across town further from the bustling city and closer to the suburban areas. Johnny was grinning like a little kid as he pulled into the driveway-  _ their driveway _ \- and took Jimmy’s hand in his own. “We’re here.”

 “We’re here,” Jimmy repeated, eyes darting around out of meticulous habit before leaning in to kiss the other’s cheek. The house was like an absolute dream, just like the ones you see in the films with the perfect family and the picket fence. It was everything Jimmy had wanted, and he was beyond excited to share it with Johnny.

**

 Unpacking was a bitch.

 Jimmy enjoyed packing. Enjoyed placing things into confined boxes and taping them shut with a temporary finality. The worst was when you reopened the box and had to figure out where the hell everything needed to go.

 He was sitting on the new couch, still wrapped in plastic, as he opened the third box labelled “living room”. It wasn’t anything special, really. Knick-knacks, trophies from childhood, holiday and birthday cards from years prior. He was reaching the end of the box when something out of the ordinary caught his eye. In a stack of books was a small, black book with horrific water damage and-

_ Oh no. _

__ With shaky hands, the man slowly picked it up and stared at it with a blank face, shocking even himself. For the longest time, he couldn’t even  _ look _ at it on the shelf without crying. But now, he didn’t feel on the verge of tears. He felt surprisingly calm, although now shaking a little. He was thankful the others had left not too long ago. He didn’t know how he’d talk about this to everyone.

 “Jimmy? Are you going to eat? June made us some roast that looks  _ amazing _ \- hey, are you okay?” Johnny asked as he walked into the living room, noticing the look from the other and moving to take a seat on the couch next to him.

 The question was both the easiest and the hardest one to answer. Because...he didn’t know what he felt. His emotions were so fried at this point that he could rarely tell his pain from his neutral mood anymore. Seconds of thinking became minutes, just staring at the small book and tracing his hand over the rough, damaged cover. 

 “...I...I’m okay.” He was. He was okay. No, not okay.  _ Better.  _ What he had with Aaron was real, no question in his mind. But that chapter of his life was finished, perhaps before he was expecting, but finished nonetheless. Now, he needed to move forward. He knew he’d never fully move on from the man, but he  _ could _ move forward. He had Johnny, a man with bright eyes and a beautiful laugh and love in his heart. A man with insecurities, and nightmares, and dreams, and hopes. He had a man he loved, who loved him too, and that was the best start he could think of.

 Jimmy stood from the couch, picking up the stack of books and placing them on the shelf against the wall. He looked at the small, water damaged book with a gentle smile, no longer one of melancholy or deep hurt, but one of just  _ remembering _ , before placing it next to the others. “I’m okay.”

 He knew he still had a long way to go. He knew there would be rough days, and a specific November morning that would never be full of joy for the rest of his life. He knew he still had days of sorrow and hurt and pain, but he also knew he had Johnny. Johnny was there. Right there, from the late nights he can’t sleep to the lazy afternoons of reading or playing or just listening to records together.

 Johnny smiled softly and stood up, taking a few steps forward to pull Jimmy close and into a gentle kiss. 

 Jimmy was moving forward. He had a fresh start, a new life ahead of him.

_ And this time, he wasn’t alone. _

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still gonna be hurting Jimmy's feelings in other fics ngl 
> 
> STALK ME CORNER
> 
> Instagram: @allin_ev_itable
> 
> Tumblr: @allin-ev-itable
> 
> Twitter: @allin_ev_itable
> 
> Twitter: @eld_fisherprice


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